Praya dubia

Praya dubia
Illustration of a giant siphonophore
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Hydrozoa
Order: Siphonophorae
Family: Prayidae
Genus: Praya
Species:
P. dubia
Binomial name
Praya dubia
(Quoy & Gaimard, 1827)
Synonyms
  • Diphyes dubia Quoy & Gaimard, 1833
  • Nectocarmen antonioi Alvariño, 1983
  • Praia dubia Blainville, 1830
  • Prayoides intermedia Leloup, 1934

Praya dubia, the giant siphonophore, lives in the mesopelagic zone to bathypelagic zone at 700 m (2,300 ft) to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) below sea level. It has been found off the coasts around the world, from Iceland in the North Atlantic to Chile in the South Pacific.[1]

Praya dubia is a member of the order Siphonophorae within the class Hydrozoa. With a body length of up to 50 m (160 ft), it is the second-longest[citation needed] sea organism after the bootlace worm. Its length also rivals the blue whale, the sea's largest mammal, although Praya dubia is as thin as a broomstick.[2][3]

A siphonophore is not a single, multi-cellular organism, but a colony of tiny biological components called zooids, each having evolved with a specific function. Zooids cannot survive on their own,[4] relying on symbiosis in order for a complete Praya dubia specimen to survive.

  1. ^ "Ocean Biodiversity Information System". iobis.org. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  2. ^ "Beauty and the deep". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  3. ^ "Giant siphonophore, Deep Sea, Invertebrates, Praya sp at the Monterey Bay Aquarium". montereybayaquarium.org. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  4. ^ The Deep; the University of Chicago Press, London (2007)